Automatic sheet-feeder for printing and folding machines and the like.



H. HOLLINGS. AUTOMATIC SHEET FEEDER FOR PRINTING AND POLDING'MAGHINES AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26, 1909.

942,036. Patented Nov. 30, 19.09.

5 SHEETS-SHEET1.

I Invent)!- witnefle a; I JT/ v Attorn H. HOLLINGS. AUTOMATIC SHEET FEEDER FOR PRINTING AND FOLDING MACHINES AND THE LIKE AYPLICATION FILED JUNE 26, 1909.

Patented Nov. 30. 1909.

5 SEEETS SUIJET 2.

H. HOLLINGS. AUTOMATIC SHEET FEEDER FOR PRINTING AND FOLDING MACHINES AND TEE LIKE} v APPLTGATION FILED JUNEZG. 1909. 942,036. Patehtfl-Nfiv. -30; 1909;

H. HOLLING-S. AUTOMATIC SHEET FEEDER FUR PRINTING AND FOLDING MACHINES AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26, 1909.

942,036, Patented Nov. 30, 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

H. HULLINGS. AUTOMATIC SHEET FEEDER FOE PRINTING AND FOLDING MACHINES AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26, 1909.

Patented Nov. 80, 1909.

ESHEETS-SHEET 5.

I 1 Application filed June 26,1909. Seria11o.504,632.

- UNITE -genre I H RY HOLLINGSL or ems; ENGLAND.

AU'roi/rATro strum-FEEDER roe PRINTING AND FOLDING MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

To all-"whom it may concern: *Be it known that I, HARRY HOLLI Gs, a subject of the King of the'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and resident of Mount Pisgah, Otley, Yorkshire, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sheet-Feeders for Printing and F oldin'g Machines and the Like, of which'the following is a specificalilOIl. i V A i This invention relates to-an improved construction of automatic sheet feeder for printing and folding machines and the like,and has for its object to insure the feeding from a pile'of sheets, -of one sheet at a time; The feeding'of one sheetat a time from a pile of sheets is effected by means of a'segnmntal suction roller and a cooperating wiper roller or brush, said suction'ro'ller being rotated and carrying the sheetof paper around with it until; the roller has. performed a half circle,*when' the suction is cut off from the roller and the-sheet is carried forward to the table or the tapes of the printing machine.

In my improved construction of automatic sheet feeder, the paper iscompletely turned over.

Figure 1 shows a front elevation of the sheet feeding machineyFig. 2 is a view at right angles to=Fig;l1, looking toward the right, and for the sake o'f =cleai'ness the standards'of' the.machine "areit-*shown in dotted lines;"Figs. 3, 4, 5 andG are end views of the suct on roller or p1ckerup-1n different positions; Fig. 7 isa side elevation of the top portion of the frame showing the approximate position of the picking-up roller and the carrying forward device for the paper; Fig. 8 is a detailed plan view of the carrying forward device; Fig. 9 shows the means for: arresting the upward movement of the papertable whileiasheet is being removed therefrom 'by the. segmental vacuum roller ;--Fig. 10= shows means for oscillating the side arms which carry the segmental vacuum roller; and/Fig. 11 shows how-tthe gate is set forkeepingthe rear edges ,of, the a paper in position,

Referring "to Fig-sf l and 2, the numerals l and 2 designate the'side standardscof the.

' machine, within'which are journaled the operating shafts-A, ByC. and D. From the s'aid shaft-A, the rods -a at each side of'the standards 1 and 2 are operated, being given a rocking motion so as to reciprocate the rollers a (see Figs. 7 and 8) for transfer Specification of Letters ratentf tionof rotation to the rollers B Patented ring the 'sheet of paper toithe printing machine-table, or the tapes thereof, from the suction picking-up roller A At the top of the standards of the machine and carried bythe" arms A is the suction picking-up roller. A These. arms are givena rocking motion similar to the rods a, from the shaft Band the said arms A of the vacuum picking-up roller A v are formed at their free endsas a bracket head to-ac: commodate a train of three tootl. l wheels A, a, a and between the arms A and also carried thereby are the Iwiper. rollers B} which arefor tllGxPllIPOSQ of removing from the vacuum picking-up roller. ,At any surplus sheet-s, that is to ,allowonly one sheet at a time -being,,carried (forward by said roller. The sheets, in case, more than. one'is picked up by the .roller A are wiped or stroked off by the rollers B and are at the same time placed back again in position on the pile of sheets so that they are in correct position fortthe next operation of the roller A The toothed wheel A is carried on the same aXle as the vacuum roller A but the small wheels 01 ,261? are to one side of the toothed wheel. A? The said wheel a 'is keyed or otherwise; secured to theendofthe larly the vacuum roller. A is partially rotated.

Carried by the f r ameat oneside and at the t( p thereof, Iprovide the toothed rack A and the arrangement 1of"tl1 e. jvacuum roller and its gear:;wheel s'v and wiper rollers B is such that the ar1nsA,arecausedf'to rock by reason of an extension A carrying a roller 02v at its free end, engaging with a cam oa on the shaft C whereby the wheel A is rotated by the rack A and so turnsover the vacuum picker-upd-i and imparts a mohave shown In Fig. 3 ofetheidrawingg l I the suction roller At inaposition for'p'ilcking up a sheetof gpaper. InFigQd, is shown the roller havmgpmked up, a s ngle sheet andWith the pressure ofthe paper underneath removed. In'Fig. 5 is showntlie suction roller partially rotated. and withjithe rollers B in action so as to remove any additional sheets of paper. In Fig. 6 is shown the roller A having performed its motion of rotation and with its sheet of paper in a position for being removed from the roller,

the suction having been cut off from the said roller. In the last figure (Fig. 6), the roller has traversed as well as rotated, that is, the arms A have transferred it to the position shown in Fig. 7.

The means for creating a vacuum in the roller A consists ofa pump C having in communication therewith a pipe a which leads to the, hollow spindle of the suction roller A the roller having a channel along its length with the outlets such as a. The pump has its piston rod 9 connected to the rocking lever C (Fig. 2) which is pivotally mounted on the shaft D. This rocking lever C carries a roller 0 which rides upon the cam c on the shaft 0 as said shaft C is rotated and thus the plunger of the cylinder C is caused to set up a suction in the roller A and when it has described its required rotation the rod (Z opens a valve in the pump cylinder and the vacuum therein, and consequently in the roller A is destroyed. To

actuate the rodvd, there is provided on the shaft A a two-armed member D one of which members is connected to the rod d and supporting bar 6 which is formed or pro- J vided with the rack portion 6 and the position of the table is determined by means of the quadrant toothed wheel J which is in gear with the rack portion e of the bar 6. Formed or provided on the side of the quadrant J is the toothed or ratchet wheel 6 and intervening between the side of the bracket and the side of the said toothed wheel 6 is provided the coil or other spring F which is for the purpose of tensioning the quadrant J ,in a counter-clockwise direction. When the table E is'in its lowermost position, the arrangement is such that the winding up of this spring puts the same in tension and causes the quadrant J to have a clockwise motion and by reason of being in gear with the toothed portion. e of the platform or table E, the table is given an upward motion carrying with itthe sheets of paper.

When the paper is in contact with the underside of the roller A it is necessary to temporarilylremove the pressure beneath the same. K (See -.Fig. 9.) This is caused by preventing the quadrant from moving, and to effectwhichzthe shaft D is provided with a I pawl 9 which is operated by the cam f of the shaft C such a manner that when the wheels as, the said frame brackets h which are supported on the stretcher G between the standards. The portions htforming the gate may be threaded --on to a square shaft 72, with rounded journaled ends h, and intervening between the underside of the stretcher G and the square shaft [L3 there may be a couple of fiat I springs in contact with the top-of theflat portion h of the gate after the manner shown in Fig. 11, and the arrangement is such that when the gate is in its vertical position, the spring retains it.

The shaft C is the main driving shaft of the machine and it has keyed on it the pinion C outside the standard, and is in gear with a similar pinion C and it derives its motion therefrom. The pinion C is-mounta large pinion C preferably with teeth of a coarser pitch which is in gear with the printing machine whereby the feeding device is driven.

The arms a which support the roller a for carrying forward the paper from the feed roller A are given a rockin motion by means of the arrangement s own in Fig. 10, which is a viewlooking to the left of Fig. 1. Outside the standard is mounted on the shaft C'the disk C having pivoted to it and eccentric of its axis, the rod 0 which is in turn connected to thearm C of the side rode and the arrangement is such that as the disk C is rotated, the rod C imparts a rocking motion to the arms a on the shaft A; With further reference to as shown more the function of the rollers a particularly in Figs. 7 and 8 for the purpose of feeding or transmitting asheet of paper from the segmental shaped vacuum roller A to the usual traversing ta es of a printing machine, I provide a smal trolley frame such as shown in Fig; 8 carrying the eing supported and actuatedby the rod a, which is in turn carried by the shaft a journaled at each end in the arms a and being carried thereby and the arrangement is such that when the sheet of paper has assumed theposition shown in Fig. 7 the vacuum is cut oil from the roller A and the rollers a wipe the sheet off the roller by reason of the rear traversing movement thereof caused by the rotary movement of the arms a, that is to say, the roller a strokes thesheet of paper ofl'the roller A on the platform A and ed on a stud shaft and has secured to its face thence from the end of the said platform to the traversing tapes of the machine, whereby it is conducted to the desired position. The operation of the machine is as follows:--'the sheets of paper to be fed to the usual running tapes (or table) of the printing machine. are placed on the. table E (Fig. 1) and the segmental vacuum picking up roller A is caused to come into contact with the top sheet of paper. The vacuum roller A," picks up one sheet, and it' it picks up more thanone sheet, the friction rollers B which rotate against the \tlt'lllllll roller A will stroke otf the additioual sheet. \Vhen the vacuum picking-up roller has thus carried the sheet, the vacuum is cut off froin the said roller and the rollers a stroke the sheet otf the vacuum pickingup roller and feed the sheet forwardto the running tapes (or table) of the printing machine. This completes the operation of the vacuum picking-up roller and it returns to its normal position, viz., that as shown in the full lines in Fig. 2.

What is claimed is: I l 1. In a sheet feeding machine, the combination with a suitable frame having a shaft journaled therein, of a pair of rocking arms mounted on said shaft, a sheet delivering device carried by said arms, a second shaft journaled in the frame, a pair of rocking arms mounted on said second shaft,a suction device mounted on said second pair of arms 3 and adapted to cooperate With the deliver- I, ing device and feed the sheets thereto, a table, for supporting the sheets to be fed, a rack (bar on-said table, a toothed quadrant mounted on said first-narned shaft and engaging With the rack, a spring on the firstnamed shaft adapted to normally tension the quadrant and elevate the table to position the pile of sheets to be fed, means for stopping the upward pressing of the table, when the topmost sheet of the pile has been engaged by said suction device, and gearing connections between the said shafts;

2. In a sheet feeding machine, the combi-' nation With a suitable frame having a shaft journaled therein, of a pair of rocklng arms mounted on said shaft, a sheet delivery device comprising a laterally disposed shaft having rollers carried by said rocking arms, a table on the frame on which said rollers are adapted to travel, a second shaft journaled in the frame, a pair of rocking arms mounted thereon, a suction device mounted on said second pair of arms and adapted to cooperate With the delivering device and feed the sheets thereto, a third shaft mounted in the frame, a pump actuated through the medium of the third shaft and adapted to effect suction in the suction device, means for breaking the suction therein, a table for supporting the sheets to be fed, resilient means mounted on the first shaft and connected thereto and adapted to intermittently elevate said table by the rotation of said shaft and position the pile of sheets to be fed, means for limiting the upward movement of saidtable, and gearing connections between the several shafts.

' HARRY HOLLINGS.

Witnesses:

JAMEs SIMPsoN, FRANCIS HUGH Srnrson. 

